Stack
Railway
A managed platform that runs backends, databases, and cron jobs from a repo or Dockerfile with per-second usage billing.
What it actually does
Railway deploys services, databases, and cron jobs from a git repo or Dockerfile in a Heroku-style workflow, billing per second on the RAM and CPU your services actually use.
The $5/mo Hobby plan includes $5 of usage, so a tiny always-on service is effectively flat-rate. Resources bill at $10/GB/mo for RAM and $20/vCPU/mo, so a 1 vCPU / 1 GB container running 24/7 is about $30/mo before the credit. Egress is $0.05/GB, a third of Render's and Vercel's $0.15.
There is no ongoing free tier after a one-time $5 trial credit, and because you pay for provisioned-and-used resources, a memory leak costs money until you notice it.
Railway vs its main rivals
The tools people actually weigh against Railway: Render, Fly.io, Heroku. Same criteria for every column, including where Railway loses.
| Railway |  Render |  Fly.io | HHeroku | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pricing & access | ||||
| Free tier | NoNo (one-time $5) | YesYes (spins down) | NoNo (trial $5) | NoNo |
| Starting price | $5/mo | $7/mo | ~$2/mo | $5/mo (Eco) |
| Free tier for commercial use | NoNo free tier | YesYes | NoNo free tier | NoNo |
Platform & runtime | ||||
| Git-push deploy | YesYes | YesYes | NoVia CI | YesYes |
| Managed database | YesPostgres/MySQL | YesPostgres | NoUnmanaged | YesPostgres |
| Regions | 4 regions | Global CDN | 35 regions | Few regions |
Scaling & limits | ||||
| Egress rate | $0.05/GB | $0.15/GB | $0.02/GB | Bundled |
| RAM cost | $10/GB/mo | Bundled | $5/GB/mo | Bundled |
| Scale to zero | YesYes | NoPaid always-on | YesYes | NoEco sleeps |
Developer & API | ||||
| REST/GraphQL API | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| CLI | Free | Free | Free | Free |
Team & support | ||||
| Unlimited team seats | NoPro per-seat | YesPro flat | YesFlat | NoPer-seat |
- Hobby at $5/mo with $5 usage included is a low-cost way to run a real backend plus database on a managed platform
- Per-second billing on actual usage: a small sleeping API costs about $1/mo in RAM
- Egress at $0.05/GB is a third of Vercel's and Render's $0.15/GB
- RAM at $10/GB/mo and vCPU at $20/mo add up: one always-on 2 GB, 1 vCPU service is about $40/mo
- No free tier after the one-time $5 trial, and a memory leak costs money until you notice it
- Pro is $20 per seat, so adding a collaborator adds cost before any usage
Pay less for it
4 ways foundHobby's included $5 usage makes tiny always-on services effectively flat-rate.
Scale-to-zero on services that do not need to be always on stops the meter.
Per-second billing means trimming provisioned resources directly lowers the bill.
Fly.io — A ~$2/mo always-on VM with $0.02/GB egress and $5/GB RAM runs the same small backend for less.
StackTracker tracks what you actually pay for Railway and every other tool, flags overpayment, and shows the dollars you would save by switching.
Is it the right tool for you
- You want Heroku-style simplicity for a small backend plus Postgres under ~$10/mo
- Your service is mostly idle and benefits from per-second billing
- You want a managed database next to your app without config
- You need a cheap always-on box with several GB of RAM → use Hetzner Cloud
- You want the lowest egress and can skip a managed DB → use Fly.io
Track what Railway and the rest of your stack cost
StackTracker adds up every subscription, plus your hours, so you see the real number.
Prices and limits last verified 2026-07-20.